GARMIYAN, Aug.8 (AKnews)- A force from the Iraqi army has been stationed at the borders of Saadiya, Diyala province, said a chief of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Saadiya.
The force from the 20th Army Brigade which was stationed in Meqdadiya before has been moved to Saadiya on the pretext that the security of Saadiya is deteriorating, said Hassan Abdul-Rahman, KDP chief of Khabat neighborhood in Saadiya.
Abdul-Rahman said "we have no idea if this force stays or returns to its place after completing its mission but we are aware that Diyala police chief and operations commander of the same province supervise the force."
The force deployment in the multiethnic Saadiya is at a time when Kurdish border guards (peshmarga) have prevented the Iraqi army from deployment on Iraqi-Syrian borders which lay in Nineveh province and under peshmarga control and this has created tensions between Baghdad and Erbil.
Amir Ali, a member of the High Committee for Defending Interests of Khanaqin (another disputed area), said his organization suspects the movement of the force into Saadiya borders.
"This is because earlier the Iraqi army consolidated its base in these areas for various pretexts and now it wants to repeat the same scenario," Ali said.
According to AKnews information so far peshmarga forces, which are constitutionally a component of the official defense system of the country, have not been moved.
Until 2007, peshmarga forces jointly with the Iraqi army protected Jalawla, Qaratappa, and Saadiya but due to disputes with the Iraqi army peshmarga was forced to withdraw to Kurdistan.
More and more Kurds are forced under insurgents threats to leave these disputed areas following peshmarga's withdrawal.
The areas are among those districts whose ownership is disputed by Baghdad and Erbil.
By Bryar Mohammed
LL/AKnews